Automatic gas shutoff



Sept. 14, 1943 A. D. WEIGOLT AUTOMATIC GAS SHUT-OFF Filed Dec. 16, 1941fig. g Wm zt and! a 776W; Wwhjfiem .receive a supply pipe :minates at avalve seat 8| :and discharging into a chamber 82 within the casing. Adischarge passageway leads from this Patented Sept. 14, 1943 UNITEDSTATE s' PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC GAssnU'roFF Alphonse D. Weigolt,Cleveland, Ohio Application December 16, 1 941 ,'Se rial No. 423,189

3 Claims. Cl. 137-153) This invention relates to an automatic device forshutting off the supply to a gas flame whenever the gas pressure fallsso low as likely to cause the flame to die out, so that a return of thegas pressure will not cause unconsumed gas to discharge into the room.The device is, therefore, a safety device suitable for gas stoves, gasradiators, water heaters, etc.

The primary object of the invention is to provide such a device in asimple form which shall be very reliable in service, and in which thereshall be no danger of the valve failing to seat eifectively whenever thepressure drops to a dangerous minimum. Another object is to provide asimple arrangement whereby the valve may be readily restored manually toactive position, whenever a return gas pressure has made suchrestoration desirable.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the drawing hereof, andis hereinafter described in detail, and the essential novelcharacteristics are summarized in the claims. 3

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a vertical central section through oneembodiment of my automatic shut-01f device; Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection of the same in a plane through the manually releasable latchwhich may the plane being indicated by the line 2-2.

The frame of the device shown is a casing composed of a body 8 and a cap9 secured thereto. The body has an intake passageway threaded to 2B.This passageway tercarried by the body chamber to the pipe 2| adapted tocommunicate with the device burning the gas.

Between the body 8 and the cap 9 is an intermediate diaphragm 10, whichin this case is shown as a usual corrugated metal diaphragm clampedbetween the two members of the casing. The valve seat 8| comprises theedge of an opening in a partition of the casing, and the valve is shownas a metal member 44 having a conical surface to coact with the valveseat. A threaded stem 45 of this valve passes through the diaphragm andis clamped to it by a nut 46.

The latch carrier is an internally threaded sleeve ll adjustably mountedon the threaded stem 45 and locked in position by a set screw I llcarried by the sleeve and engaging the top of the stem. Thislatch-carrier is provided with three sets of outwardly extending ears I[3 to which are pivoted the latches H5. These latches have outwardlyextending counter-weights H6 and are hold the valve closed,

provided with-shoulders Ill to engage beneath shoulders 93 onthe'casing, and have upward extensions l8 for manual release.

The cap 9 has the usual atmospheric vent 95 above the diaphragm. At itsupper end the cap is threaded to carry the supplemental cap which isremovable to allow access to the latch fingers.

The latches H5 are eccentric'ally pivoted, and have portions extendinghorizontally away from their pivots to counterweight them, so that theyhave a tendency to swing outwardly on the pivots. Accordingly, itresults that when the gas pressure in the pipe 20 drops to dangerousminimum the weight of the parts on the diaphragm itself, will cause thevalve to drop and engage the seat 8| and shut off the gas, and at thesame time the latches will swing outwardly on their pivots engaging theunderside of the casing shoulders 93 and locking the valve in its closedposition. A return of the gas pressure will not release the valve and itwill remain locked.

After the device has acted to shut off the gas, and it is desired torestore it to open the passageways, the cap 90 is imply removed and theoperator by his thumb and two fingers presses inwardly the upper ends I[8 of the three latches. This releases the diaphragm and valve and alsoprovides the operator with a handle to pull up the diaphragm and openthe passageway. If at such time there is not proper gas pressure thevalve will remain in or return to the position shown in Fig. 1 and thelatches will return to that position when released. If the proper gaspressure is present when the latches are withdrawn the parts willimmediately return to active position.

It will be seen that the latch comprises multiple members equally spacedabout the axis of the diaphragm, thus providing a balanced structure.The latches are readily adjusted so that they become active to hold thevalve down whenever the valve reaches its seat but are idle when thevalve is above its seat.

I claim:

1. The combination of a casing comprising a body and a cap thereon, adiaphragm clamped between them, a valve carried by the diaphragm on itsunder side, a latch carrier on the upper side of the diaphragm mountedfor adjustment toward and from the diaphragm, a plurality of radiallatches pivotally mounted on the carrier, the center of gravity of eachof the latches being outside of the pivot whereby the latches tend toswing outwardly, there being an upwardly latches spaced about saidsleeve and pivotally mounted thereon and counter-weighted to swingoutwardly, each latch having a shoulder to act with a shoulder on theinterior of the casing, said latches extending upwardly above theirshoulders for manual engagement to release the latches.

3. In a valve device comprising a body memher having intake anddischarge passageways and a valve seat between them, a cap member haveing a top opening, a diaphragm clamped a its edge between the cap memberand body, an a valve carried by the diaphragm coacting 'th the valveseat, the feature of the valve being on the lower end of a threaded stemextending through the diaphragm and clamped thereto, a sleeve threadedon the stem to be adjustable toward and from the diaphragm, a pluralityof latches equidistantly spaced about the sleeve and pivoted thereto andeach having an upwardly facing shoulder adapted to coact with adownwardly facing margin of the cap about the top opening thereof, saidlatches extending upwardly in the annular space about the sleeve andwithin the cap margin, a clamping screw threaded into ya head portion onthe sleeve and bearing downwardly on the upper end of the stem, and acap removably secured to said cap member and normally shielding theupper ends of the latches v and the head of the clamping screw.

D- WEIGQL

